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Every year, teams have a limited amount of money to spend on undrafted free agents in the form of signing bonuses. The CBA limits that number, though it does not limit the percentage of a rookie's salary a team can guarantee -- a fact uncovered by La'el Collins' team last year, who had his entire rookie contract guaranteed by the Dallas Cowboys.
The Bucs didn't guarantee anyone's full contract -- that would be absurd under all but the most extraordinary circumstances, as the chances of any individual UDFA making the roster are very small. They did, however, spend a total of $106,000 on undrafted rookies to get them in the building, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Other bonuses we can now report for other undrafted rookies: Auburn RB Peyton Barber ($8,000), Ole Miss DE Channing Ward ($5,000), Memphis OT Taylor Fallin ($5,000), Colorado State TE Kivon Cartwright ($3,000), South Carolina S Isaiah Johnson ($2,500), William & Mary LB Luke Rhodes ($2,500), Memphis FB/TE Allen Cross ($2,000). The rest of the undrafted rookies either had no bonus or were signed after coming on initially as tryout players.
Those numbers can be added to earlier reports of tackle Leonard Wester receiving a $20,000 bonus, reportedly the biggest in the NFL among undrafted rookies this year, and an additional $15,000 in guaranteed salary. Offensive lineman Dominique Robertson, received a $12,500 signing bonus and had $7,500 of his salary guaranteed. Safety Elijah Shumate finagled a $13,000 signing bonus out of the Bucs, and linebacker Cassanova McKinzy was paid a $10,000 signing bonus.
That all adds up to $106,000 in signing bonuses and guaranteed money. A decent sum, but still just one fourth of the rookie minimum salary for 2016, or about the same as a regular practice squad player would be paid if he managed to stay on the squad for an entire season.
So these aren't exactly massive commitments on the part of the Bucs, who can and will cut ties with almost all of these players after preseason, if not sooner. But it's a decent indication of which players they at least liked the most, relatively speaking, and which positions they thought they needed to reinforce. Mostly: linebacker, safety and offensive line.